


viridescent

by shizuoh



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bonding, Control Issues, Family Fluff, Gen, Houseplant Flowey, Minor Alphys/Undyne, Non-Binary Chara, Non-Binary Frisk, Post-Pacifist Route, Sharing a Body, for a bit, genderless green soul human, theyre just referred to as kindness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 11:44:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5966184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shizuoh/pseuds/shizuoh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>kind·ness<br/>the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.</em>
</p><p>Out of all six souls, there's only one who is willing to give themself up for the sake of another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	viridescent

**Author's Note:**

> this started out as a daydream during geometry that turned into asriel feels and now its this so take it im disgusted with myself  
> its so out of order its late ok

> _Bravery. Justice. Integrity. Kindness. Perseverance. Patience._
> 
> _Using these, you were able to win at "Ball Game"._

 

* * *

 

"I'm guessing you're Chara from how much chocolate you're eating."

They whirled around, startled, wide eyes faintly flickering red as they slowly continued to chomp down on the chocolate chip waffle they held in their hands. And it was still frozen too—ugh, gross.

"Don't you dare tell Mom," they said, voice slightly muffled from the food stuffed in their mouth. Their left eye was slowly swirling to a mix of blue and brown—Frisk must be somewhere there too.

Flowey rolled his eyes. "Not like she'll believe anything I tell her, anyway," he retorted, looking back down at his PSP and tapping away.

Chara—no, Frisk; their eyes were the usual heterochromatic brown and blue again—swallowed down the rest of Chara's waffle and closed the freezer door, their eyes not moving from Flowey. He didn't look up at them, but he could feel their hard gaze on his face, and he grimaced. All they did was stare at him lately. Either that or go outside until late at night and sneak back in when they thought everyone was asleep.

"If you told her that you're Asriel—"

"I'm _not_ Asriel," he hissed, face twisting angrily. "Asriel is _dead_."

Frisk frowned, shifting their weight side to side and biting the inside of their cheek. "What if I told you there was a way to bring him back?"

Flowey blinked, his face shifting from anger to surprise to confusion in a second. "Huh?" he scoffed, deciding to ignore the question (and definitely ignore the sentimental way Chara was looking at him). "I'd laugh and call you an idiot."

"You do that all the time, though," Frisk protested playfully. Then they stopped, as if suddenly in thought. "You really _do_ laugh and call me an idiot all the time. Wow."

Flowey furrowed his brows, shaking his head as he returned to his game.

Frisk looked over at the digital clock on the stove, and then took a seat beside Flowey at the dining table. The two (three, technically) sat in silence for a while, control ranging from Chara to Frisk as each played with their hands (they did it a different way—Frisk always picked at their nails and tugged at their knuckles while Chara usually dug their nails into the skin and cracked their fingers). 

"You guys really have the whole control thing down, huh?" Flowey sighed, pausing his game reluctantly.

Frisk and Chara looked up, left eye brown/blue and right eye red. "Yeah," they replied, but Flowey wasn't sure who was talking. "It's easy, I guess, after a while." Then they paused, and bit their lip. "Well, sometimes it's difficult. Especially when we fight."

"You two fight?" Flowey asked, although the answer seemed obvious. When they nodded, he folded his leaves over one another and said, "Wow. I thought you two were inseparable."

They opened their mouth to reply, but then stopped, instead replacing what could've been an answer to a hard glare. "Was... that a joke?" Chara asked slowly, a small, crooked grin forming on their face.

Flowey didn't say anything, but he had to suppress a grin of his own.

"It _was!_ " Chara exclaimed, slamming their hands down on the table a bit too hard for Flowey's liking (the movement made his pot jostle). "Man, your jokes _always_ suck."

"Like yours are any better," Frisk retorted, crossing their arms.

Their eyes switched fully red for a moment as they scoffed and put a hand on their chest. " _Excuse_ you," they said in mock offense, " _all_ my jokes are fantastic, thank you."

"You're as bad as Smiley Trashbag," Flowey said, giving them a deadpanned look.

"Don't compare me to him, you weed," Chara muttered, giving him a deadly glare, but it wasn't all that threatening when Frisk took control again.

The room fell into silence again, the only noises being the birds chirping outside, the cars driving by in the distance, and the beeping music from Flowey's game. He stole glances at Frisk every so often, watching as they slowly picked at their nails, seemingly lost in thought. Flowey's attention to his game gradually decreased, and his mind began focusing on other things.

Like where Frisk went to almost every night.

They seemed to leave late at night when everyone was asleep, and came back before the sun rose the next morning. They never took anything with them, only themself and themself only. They always came back unscathed, although sometimes their clothes were dirty and their hair was messy. Flowey didn't say anything about it (Chara had a _lot_ of blackmail about him that they could tell Toriel), but he was somewhat jealous of the way Frisk was able to leave and come back whenever they wanted, while he was stuck in a pot with only the hope of someone moving him themself.

He wondered if they were saving, but he hadn't felt anything off about the timeline since they left the Underground. 

How curious.

 

* * *

 

He didn't usually sleep—he _could_ , but he just didn't. Nightmares or memories he didn't want to see ever again would probably appear if he tried to sleep. Plus his sleeping position wouldn't be very comfortable, either. _Ugh_ , if only he had a body. He was so tired of being a flower, with only leaves as very unreliable hands. 

He blinked at the sudden rustling coming from the bed. He was in Frisk's room, the latter having taken him there once they went to bed, as they did every night. It was dark in the room, the only light being the blue nightlight coming from beside the bed. The moon was void that night—a new moon—and it seemed to make the darkness outside even darker and thicker.

"Hey," Frisk suddenly whispered, their face completely disregarding Flowey's personal space, "you wanna come with me this time?" They were whispering, biting the inside of their cheek and looking behind them as if someone was going to appear there at any moment.

Flowey gave them a frown, and looked outside for a moment. "Where?"

"A surprise!" they whisper-yelled, and, without waiting for an answer, picked up Flowey's pot. 

He blinked, eyes going wide for a moment as they slowly and quietly opened the window. A faint breeze curled through, tousling Frisk's hair, but it wasn't unbearably cold outside. Frisk cradled Flowey close to their chest as they sat on the edge, swinging their legs over the edge, and then jumped down through the small opening. Even though their room was on the second floor of their house, Frisk managed to land safely on their feet. Flowey assumed it was because of everything they had to do to dodge attacks in the Underground.

"Why didn't you go out the front door?" he asked.

Frisk looked back at the house as they began to walk. "Sans was sleeping on the couch."

"Oh." Smiley Trashbag _always_ got in the way of things.

 

* * *

 

"...Frisk, why are we going back up the mountain?"

"You'll see!" Frisk exclaimed, their eyes sparkling, and Flowey jolted at the way they suddenly began running forward.

They rushed up the mountain like it was nothing, and continued to run, and for a moment Flowey thought they were going to jump down into the hole until he saw the rope leading down. Frisk came to a stop in front of the hole, crouching down and maneuvering Flowey so his pot was being held with one of their arms. They crawled over to the rope, swinging their legs over the edge and leaning down, holding onto the rope with one hand.

"Uh, Frisk—"

"Just hold on!" 

Flowey didn't have the time to say anything else, because he was too busy trying not to slip from Frisk's grip as the latter began sliding down the rope and into the Underground. Flowey momentarily wondered if this is how Chara felt when they fell, but then a sudden movement from Frisk jolted him out of his daze and he was clinging to Frisk's sweater with his leaves desperately.

Once they made it down safely onto the golden flowers, Flowey looked up at the hole above, and then the very long rope leading down. It was rough and old, some parts differently colored and tied in knots in order to make the rope longer.

"Where did you even find this rope, anyway?" he asked, giving Frisk a weird look.

They shrugged. "Found it around town. I wasn't really in the mood for falling all the way down again." Frisk looked down at the flowers, and politely stepped off them, even going so far as to brush them off as if they got them dirty.

Their eyes went red for a moment, and they grinned, "Don't wanna get my pretty little grave all dirty."

 

* * *

 

Frisk didn't explain any further as they passed through the Ruins, Snowdin, and Waterfall. It wasn't until they reached Hotland that they asked about what it was like to have so many souls inside him.

Flowey frowned. "Well... I guess I felt... complete? Not as empty." He pursed his lips. "Why?"

"No reason," Frisk replied, and scratched at the back of their neck. "By any chance... do you know what happened to the six human souls?"

Flowey thought about it for a moment. "No. I don't know what happened to them after I released them. The monster souls went back to the monster it belonged to, but... I don't know about the human ones."

Frisk nodded, humming a bit, and then they grinned. "They're still around."

"What? How do you know?" Maybe this was his chance! To take the lot of them and then finally—no, wait. Last time he did that, all six souls rebelled against him and ultimately left him humiliated. Yikes. Never again.

"I came down here to talk to them," Frisk replied like it was the most nonchalant thing they could ever say. "They all hang around the places they died, I guess, or at least, where their past belongings were left. The only one who doesn't really like me is Perseverance, but I think that's just because they're shy."

Flowey didn't realize he had been staring at them with a wide open mouth until he felt saliva pool, and then he quickly snapped it shut before Frisk could see (he was sure Chara saw though, and if they had a phone, they would've been taking pictures to add to their growing supply of blackmail). 

"We're going to go talk to Kindness," they declared.

"Which one is that?" he asked. He couldn't help it; he was curious.

"Green one," Frisk replied, adjusting their grip on him. "I think they might just be kind enough, too."

"Kind enough for what?"

"You'll see."

 

* * *

 

"Why are we just standing here?" Flowey deadpanned, glaring at the empty space. The heat was starting to make him uncomfortable, and he would much rather being alone in the dark in Frisk's room than stand around in Hotland doing nothing.

"Uh..." Frisk mumbled, scratching the back of their neck. "This is where Kindness usually appears..."

"Then _where_ are they?" he demanded, exasperated and impatient, almost like a child.

As if on cue, Frisk gasped, and pointed to the left corner, eyes sparkling with excitement. But to Flowey, it was just an empty corner, nothing special about it. He looked between Frisk's face and the chosen corner with confusion, furrowing his brows. In the back of his mind, he thought about how he could be playing his game at this very moment instead of this.

"I don't see anything," he said.

"What!?" Frisk gasped, and pointed more firmly at the corner. "But they're right there! See—See, they're waving at you!"

"Uh...?" Flowey trailed off, looking around the area in a deeper confusion.

Their eyes turned red, "Huh. Maybe when they give themself to him he'll be able to see them." Then Frisk's reply to Chara, "Maybe."

It took Flowey a moment to realize what they had just said. He froze, eyes widening as he looked over at Frisk's face in mild horror. "... _What?_ "

Frisk bit their lip, looking at the corner for a moment and making a motion that looked like _come here_. "Well, uh..." they started hesitantly, palms starting to sweat and loosening their grip on Flowey's pot. "Chara wanted to try getting Asriel back, so... we decided to come back down and, um... try to convince one of the souls to give themself up?"

" _What!?_ " Flowey practically screeched.

"W-Well, it took a bit to actually _find_ the souls, but once we did, none of them wanted to be 'trapped inside you again'." Omega Flowey. Right. One of the biggest mistakes of his life, honestly. He preferred to keep it suppressed deep inside him like the other memories of his past self. "But... then we found Kindness. They told us about how they died trying to save a monster from falling off a cliff and landing in the lava, but they ended up falling themself, and their soul was taken."

Frisk paused, and looked to their side, gesturing towards the empty-but-maybe-not-so-much space beside them. "After a while, we asked if they were willing to sacrifice themself once more, and, well, they agreed. So..." Their voice trailed off, and they bit the inside of their cheek (a habit, really, that they should stop). "...Kindness is going to give you their soul."

"I..." Flowey was speechless. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what he _should_ say. Should he refuse? Should he thank them? Should he take the soul without question?

Chara spoke up, "You're taking it whether you like it or not."

Flowey sighed. He was about 98% sure the entire thing was going to blow up in their faces. " _Fine_ ," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "Whatever. What's the worst that could happen?"

Frisk beamed, and then set Flowey's pot on the ground in front of where Kindness apparently was. "Alright!" they exclaimed. "Chara, are you ready?" There was a pause, and Flowey assumed Chara was deciding to reply nonverbally. After a moment, Frisk let out a slow breath and took a few steps back. "Flowey, are you ready?"

"Yeah. Sure."

"Kindness, are you ready?" Flowey still couldn't see or hear anything that lead to the actual existence of them, but Frisk seemed satisfied with whatever reply Kindness had supplied them with, and then they prepared themself. "Alright... go!"

There was a flash of bright green and the world went dark.

 

* * *

 

When he opened his eyes, he was staring at the ceiling of Frisk's room.

 _Oh, it didn't work_ , he thought to himself scornfully, sitting up from the bed and flexing his feet—wait.

He looked down in alarm, eyes wide, and he felt like crying once he saw the familiar, furry, white feet that belonged to him. He flexed his toes, wiggling them, and poked the appendage with his furry, white hand. 

A mirror. Was there a mirror somewhere? 

He jumped to his feet ( _feet_ , he had feet) and practically threw himself into Frisk's bathroom, hovering over the sink and forcing himself to pick up his head and stare at his reflection. 

What looked back at him was Asriel Dreemurr.

 _Are you happy with what you see?_ murmured a soft voice in his mind, and he flinched at the sudden noise.  _Oh, sorry. I'm Kindness. Your soul?_

 _...I remember,_ he replied slowly, and then frowned.  _How are you still here if I have your soul?_

 _I'm not sure... It may have something to do with the fact that you are a monster with a human soul_ , Kindness replied, and Asriel took note of the way their voice sounded (soft, delicate, very pretty and pleasing to hear).  _I wasn't entirely sure that this would work, and that's half why I agreed to it._

_And the other half?_

_Well, I wanted to help you_ , Kindness said, and it sounded like they were pouting. 

Asriel gave a breathy laugh, and straightened his back. He rolled his shoulders, getting used to the feeling that he had shoulders again, and actual hands, and feet, and legs. He looked down at his paws, clenching and unclenching them and wiggling his fingers. He started to laugh, his giggles echoing through the bathroom walls, and he looked back into the mirror to see his reflection crying. His crying reflection—and a red-eyed figure standing at the doorway.

He turned around, looking at Chara with eyes full of emotion. Then he was feeling something he couldn't pin down—nostalgia, maybe, or maybe even relief.

Chara gave him a watery smile, and walked up to him, wrapping their arms around his shoulders and hugging him as tight as they could.

"Has Mom seen...?"

Chara shook their head. "No, me and Frisk brought you back before she woke up," they replied, and then sighed. "She's at work right now."

"She gets home at 6, right?"

"Yeah."

Asriel flashed them a grin. "Let's surprise the _heck_ out of her."

Chara laughed heartily, and Asriel almost started crying at the realization of how much he missed that laugh. 

"Wow, watch your language, buddy."

 

* * *

 

Toriel let out a slow sigh as she opened the door to her home. "My children, I am back!" she called out to the household, waiting for Frisk and/or Chara to come up to her and greet her, or for Flowey to give her a one-sided glance to acknowledge that she was back.

When nobody came, she narrowed her eyes and peered around the house. Were they trying to scare her? She grinned, setting down her bag on the dining table and stepping into the living room warily, looking around for any signs of giggling children.

The only giggling children she saw were two small figures on the couch, peeking over the edge and smiling at her. A pair of red eyes and a tuft of white hair peeking out from above.

Toriel's jaw dropped as the two children lifted their heads.

"....No," she whispered slowly, putting a hand to her forehead. "What...? _No_ , this cannot... be...."

"Hi, Mom," Asriel said sheepishly, waving a hand at her. Asriel. _Asriel_. Her _son_.

"A- _Asriel_... you..." She was crying; she could hear it in her voice and the way it shook with each word. She sniffled, covering her face with her hands and quietly walking over to the couch. Asriel jumped up automatically, snuggling into her arms, and Toriel buried her snout into her son's shoulder. "My son... _oh_ , how I've missed you..."

"I missed you too, Mom," Asriel whispered, and he was crying too.

Chara watched from the other side of the couch, red eyes blinking curiously and watching them. Toriel peered over at them, and opened one of her arms to make room for them. Chara didn't hesitate to nuzzle into her, wrapping their arms around their mother and brother. 

The three held each other tightly for what seemed like forever, Asriel and Toriel crying all over each other and Chara holding their face in Toriel's dress. Hours could've passed and all that mattered was that Toriel's children were _here_ , they were _alive_ (at least somewhat), and they were in her arms again.

"Thank you, Frisk..." Toriel whispered, and felt Frisk's smile against her body as she held her children closer. Even if she had no idea what happened, or how they managed to bring Asriel back, they had done it, and he was here, and so was Chara.

Everything was well.

 

* * *

 

Two weeks after Asriel first came back, it was like his presence was already a normal thing. Everyone had fitted him into their daily lives, and Asriel had bonded with Papyrus and Undyne the most (even if Papyrus had been upset about the loss of his flower friend at first; everyone else, on the other hand, was rather relieved to be rid of the "homicidal weed", and Asriel couldn't help but feel a little offended at the fact). 

His soul, on the other hand, was another matter.

They were gone sometimes, only to come back a day or two later as if they had never left in the first place. They were quiet, and reclusive, but not shy. Just quiet. Asriel could tell that they tried their best to make everyone happy, but he wondered if they had ever thought to put themself before other people (he assumed the answer was no).

 _Were you really unable to see me when you were a flower?_ Kindness asked out of the blue one day.  _Or were you lying? I'm aware that your flower form wasn't exactly the most truthful of people._

Asriel laughed aloud, drawing weird looks from Undyne and Alphys, but not Frisk. They understood.  _Yeah, I couldn't see a thing_ , he answered, glancing down at his controller and looking over at Frisk's.  _I kind of thought Frisk was making the whole thing up. Or, Chara was, since it's something they would do._

_Oh. I'm sorry for thinking otherwise._

He shook his head internally.  _No, don't apologize. You have every right to suspect me for something._ He pursed his lips to hide an outward frown.  _If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I did many horrible things, and even stole you and the other human souls twice._

 _...Yes, maybe you did, but look where it's lead you_ , Kindness said, and Asriel automatically glanced around the room at all of his friends and family (a fond smile formed on his face at the fact that they were his family again).  _It doesn't change the fact that you've done awful things, and those will stay with you forever... but... now, I think you need to look to the future instead of the past._

_Wow. I think this is the most you've spoken in one sentence._

Kindness gave off the impression of a pout.  _Is that a bad thing?_

 _No_ , Asriel replied quickly.  _It's very good! I like your voice and your presence. Now I know how Frisk feels, except... you're nicer than Chara._

 _Don't let Chara hear you say that_ , Kindness joked.

Asriel smiled.  _They're not all that bad, you know. They've also done horrible things, but... they're like me, I guess. We just have to look to the future instead of the past._

 _Hey, I said that first_ , Kindness said.  _It's trademarked._

 _Oh, is it now?_ Asriel taunted.

Kindness started to laugh in his head.  _Yes, of course it is._

Asriel breathed out slowly.  _So what's it like? In my head, I mean. Or, part of me, I guess._

_Mm... let's see... it's very roomy._

_"Roomy"?_ Asriel repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Kindness gave off the impression of a nod, and snickered.  _I don't think I can share control with you like Frisk and Chara since I'm a human and you're a monster, so it's like I have a third-person view of what's going on. It's pretty neat, I think._

_Ooh, really? Can you see what, hmm, Undyne is doing right now?_

_Holding hands with Alphys_ , Kindness replied and, honestly, you didn't even need to look to know that one. 

Asriel nodded inwardly.  _You know, I'm... kind of glad you didn't go away after you gave me your soul. Even though you should've, and it's a miracle that you're still around._

Kindness felt like they were beaming.  _I'm glad, too!_

 

* * *

 

 

"Who would like to help me cook?" Toriel asked from the kitchen, leaning in to look at the others in the room. 

Asriel felt a twitch inside him, his heart beginning to race. He loved helping his mother, of course; she was fun to be around. But this feeling wasn't anything close to the love he felt for his mother—it was something else, like an ambition.

Kindness let out a sigh.  _I always wanted to be a chef._

He was knocked with a sudden feeling of depression, and hopelessness, and he had to remember that Kindness had been a person once. An unfortunate human with a passion for helping people, who had just taken a few wrong steps that lead to their untimely demise. They had been a person with goals and dreams and fears, with family and friends.

 _I wanted to make good food for people everywhere_ , Kindness whispered nostalgically.  _And make fantastic meals for homeless and sick people so they could be happier! I wanted to be famous and well-known for cooking... even if I can only really make scrambled eggs and French toast._

 _I love both of those!_ Asriel exclaimed, and then looked over at his mother, who was talking to an eager Frisk ready to help.  _Hey... how about we go be chefs for a day?_

 _You mean it!?_ Kindness gasped excitedly.

Asriel nodded outwardly, and then stood up. He walked over to Toriel and tugged at her skirt, "Can I help, Mom?"

Toriel looked ecstatic, and she nodded, leading Frisk and Asriel to a station where they could aid in the meal. She was making, unsurprisingly, pie. Chocolate pie, in fact, which was probably a treat for Chara (Asriel could practically see the red eyes twinkling with excitement behind Frisk's brown and blue ones).

 _Do you think you can take control of the hands?_ Asriel asked, letting his paws hover over the eggs and the bowl. 

Kindness gave a grunt, and it sounded like they were trying with all their might to break through an unbreakable wall, and after a few moments, Asriel felt a wave of disappointment fall onto his shoulders like a weight.

 _Hey, hey, it's alright_ , Asriel said, cracking one of the eggs into the bowl.  _I'm sure you'll be able to take control soon. You're a miracle, remember? You stayed around._ Then he closed his eyes, and smiled.  _Right now I'll be the chef for the both of us._

 _Thanks,_ Kindness said, and then they suddenly made a noise that sounded like they were choking just as Asriel let another egg crack open.  _You, uh, dropped a pretty big piece of the shell in the bowl._

 _Oh._ Sure enough, when he looked, there it was, floating above the surface.  _Oops._

Kindness laughed.  _You have a lot to learn if you're going to be a chef, Asriel._

Asriel smiled at his name.  _Then teach me, oh great Master Chef Kindness._

_With pleasure._

**Author's Note:**

> i always thought that hey. kindness was probably a p cool person who would sacrifice themself for others and thats where this came from so rip
> 
> hmu at my [tumblr](http://heiwagayma.tumblr.com/)


End file.
